Intrada announced two new CDs this week, including the first-ever release of the sequel score to a 70s classic, one of the final scores composed by a Silver Age great.

The 1972 holiday hit The Poseidon Adventure, following 1970 Best Picture nominee Airport, managed to launch the '70s trend of all-star disaster films, and for years the entertainment news featured stories about a proposed sequel, one of which would have had the capsized ships survivors trapped in a train inside the world's longest train tunnel. The end result, BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, was released in 1979 and directed by original Poseidon producer Irwin Allen himself, featured several interested parties, including salvage expert Michael Caine, Sally Field and villainous Telly Savalas, converging on the ship on the morning after the disaster, only to be trapped inside with previously undiscovered survivors. The eclectic supporting cast included Peter Boyle, Jack Warden, Shirley Jones, Shirley Knight, Slim Pickens, Angela Cartwright, Mark Harmon, Veronica Hamel and Karl Malden, and though the film was nowhere near the classic the original has proved to be, it benefited from a full-bodied score by three-time Oscar nominee Jerry Fielding, which is featured in its entirety on the Intrada CD, plus alternates of several cues.

Their other new release is a remastered version of Maurice Jarre's electronic score (previously released on LP and CD by Sonic Atmospheres) for the 1984 sci-fi thriller DREAMSCAPE, directed by Joseph Ruben and starring Dennis Quaid, Kate Capshaw, Eddie Albert and Christopher Plummer.

The latest release from Kritzerland is a two-disc set featuring remastered versions of three Michael Small scores previously released on CD by Intrada -- the 1987 romantic thriller BLACK WIDOW, directed by Bob Rafelson; Peter Hyams' 1983 conspiracy thriller THE STAR CHAMBER, with a terrific score in the Parallax View vein; and Walter Hill's stylish 1978 action thriller THE DRIVER, sort of a 70s version of Drive (but better), starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern and Isabelle Adjani.

May 31 - Akira Ifukube born (1914)
June 1 - Werner Janssen born (1900)
June 1 - Nelson Riddle born (1921)
June 1 - Barry Adamson born (1958)
June 1 - Ron Jones records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Emissary" (1989)
June 2 - Marvin Hamlisch born (1944)
June 2 - David Dundas born (1945)
June 2 - Alex North begins recording his score to Les Miserables (1952)
June 3 - Curtis Mayfield born (1942)
June 3 - Johnny Mandel begins recording his score for The Americanization of Emily (1964)
June 4 - Irwin Bazelon born (1922)
June 4 - Oliver Nelson born (1932)
June 4 - Poltergeist released in theaters (1982)
June 5 - William Loose born (1910)
June 5 - Laurie Anderson born (1947)
June 5 - Amanda Kravat born (1966)
June 5 - Arthur Rubinstein begins recording his score to Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981)
June 6 - Aram Khachaturian born (1903)
June 6 - Edgar Froese born (1944)
June 6 - Herbert Stothart begins recording his score to The Yearling (1946)
June 6 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score for The Red Danube (1949)
June 6 - Leigh Harline begins recording his score for The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1961)
June 6 - Michel Legrand begins recording his rejected score for The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973)

DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?

BEFORE MIDNIGHT - Graham Reynolds

"Graham Reynolds’ music ties scenes together with the greatest of ease, and Christos Voudouris’ lensing beautifully captures the fading sunlight and deepening shadows against the scenic Greek locations."

"Usually you can count on Danny Elfman to provide music that is fun, loopy and adds enough fizz to at least momentarily elevate the material, but not here. Like every other aspect of the movie, it is far from an epic fail. But it is also just as far from being actually epic."

Dave McGinn, Globe and Mail

FILL THE VOID - Yitzhak Azulay

"Burshtein shoots in extreme shallow focus, framing her actors against a sometimes-blinding blanket of white fuzz. It’s a decision that, coupled with Yitzhak Azulay’s stirring, chant-driven score, lends each conversation a near religious aura. A native New Yorker, the filmmaker embraced Orthodox Judaism later in life; it’s possible to read her film as a troubling endorsement of tradition at the expense of autonomy. Were she still alive, Austen might not approve of some of the heroine’s decisions."